Fair Days-Where The Art Begins Vol. 2

The end of summer for my family is usually celebrated with a trip to the fair. In August we traveled to the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York. It was my grandson’s first visit to the fair and we were all excited to see what he would be interested in. I am happy to report that he, like the rest of the family, is a fan of fair food and was happy to taste the delights of the fair. In the shade of the park trees we shared gyros, mac and cheese and donuts for lunch while the upbeat sounds of a brass band drifted over to us from the band stand. Our busy little one would leave the table in between bites of food to admire the bubbling waters of the nearby water fountain with other toddlers and kiddos in the park.

After lunch we took a pit-stop at the fire hall where my grandson got assistance from dad while he climbed up the giant steps of the fire engine and sat up on the passenger seat. Afterwards he was gifted a plastic fire fighters hat on our way out of the hall. I’m not sure how much he will wear the hat right now-he is at the toddler stage where he pulls his hats off the second they touch his head, but I thought it was pretty sweet that they were giving them out to little ones.

At the midway the guys rode the Mighty Mouse roller coaster and the spinning bobsleds. We went through the haunted mansion where my son feigned fear of the silly attractions popping out at us, while the rest of us laughed and giggled through the ride. Our little one also got a chance to enjoy a ride and went on the carousel. We were not sure if he enjoyed it the first time, but when we walked by it later he pointed at it and went on it again with mom and dad.

The biggest hit with my grandson had to be the animal barns. Watching him delight at the piglets, bunnies, donkey, llamas, horses, chickens and cows was really special.

Usually I would paint in the plein air competition at the fair, but this year the competition was during the week and my schedule didn’t work with that timing. As we walked around the fair, I did keep thinking of places I thought would be interesting to paint, so hopefully next year the competition will be during the weekend.

On our way out of the fair, my oldest son and his family ordered deep fried Oreos to go while my youngest son and I shared an ice-cream and my husband enjoyed a biscoff cheesecake. It was only at that time that I noticed how much my feet hurt from all the walking of the day and I was content to head home from the county fair.

On the Labour Day Weekend in September, we decided to close out the last weekend of the summer with a trip to the New York State Fair in Syracuse. We had never been to a state fair before and it was so much bigger than I think any of us anticipated. I was not expecting so many large early 1900’s exhibition buildings with their ornate brickwork and detailing. Scattered between the buildings were the food vendors. I don’t know if we are just use to the smaller County Fair, but we did find it challenging to navigate the food vendors at the State Fair.

We also noticed that the lines in the midway were much longer than the county fair, so we didn’t spend as much time in that area as we normally would. Instead we enjoyed a birds of prey demonstration at the state park and the art exhibits in the arts hall. It was nice to experience something new at the fair than we would normally get to experience and it was fascinating to see all of the wonderful birds of prey and learn about how they were rescued and rehabilitated (most have been found injured).

While I am not sure that we will make the long drive to the State Fair again, it was fun to close out the summer with a mini-trip to somewhere new.

We are now one week back to the realities of back to school and the end of summer time vacations and the change in season has my creativity flowing. I’ve been painting more in my sketchbooks again and I have new ideas for paintings and fresh eyes for some of the paintings that have sat for a while. There will be more to come on that front in the coming weeks, until then, I hope you find something to inspire joy in your week.

Laura

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What I’m Reading:

Artists Magazine September/October 2026 Issue-The Beauty of Hand-Painted Collage

Whenever I am looking for inspiration I like to turn to art magazines. I love to be exposed to new techniques and concepts as a way to spark my own creative process and give me a new perspective on how I create art. The paper collages by Jill Haas are particularly inspirational in this edition. The way she uses colour and shape to create the flowers and the appearance of translucent layers is beautiful and inspiring.

What I’m Watching:

I’ve been doing a rewatch of Landscape Artists of the Year on Prime. I love watching other people paint and to see how each artists approach and perspective is different despite painting the same landscape. This show always makes me want to get out and paint.